This Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry is packed with exotic flavor, but only takes about 20 minutes to come together from start to finish thanks to using curry paste.

So last Friday morning, we were mulling around in the kitchen, sipping our coffee, and my husband looks at me and says, “I can’t shake this feeling that things are going too well. We’re too happy. Something’s going to happen.”

You can probably guess where this is going next. I woke up at 2am the next morning to Juniper with a 103° fever, our back door wide open (creepy!), and a UTI (TMI?). Either my husband is psychic or he totally cursed us. Either way, it’s been a rough few days in the Johnston house. Guys, I am so tired. *yawn*

I’ve been trying to get this Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry recipe up for you guys for days now, but sometimes life just doesn’t let you do what you need to do.

I said this on Instagram yesterday, but it’s worth mentioning here, too. I think being a parent is hard. Period. But, I do think being a working parent has it’s very own set of unique issues. I pretty much constantly feel like I’m either failing at being a good Mom or failing at being a good business owner, or, on really awesome days like today, both. Sigh.

This isn’t meant to be a pity party, but I do often get comments and emails saying crazy things like, “OMG, your life is so perfect, I’m so jealous!” Which I totally understand, because you only see a tiny piece of curated life online, so of course it looks perfect. It looks like happy chickens and a cute family and delicious food and rolling hills in the country and pretty produce from a garden. Of course I want to put out my best life for you all to see, which sometimes looks “perfect,” but it so isn’t.

Let me tell you that my husband had to drive an hour round trip at midnight last night to the closest 24 hour pharmacy to pick up children’s Tylenol because ours was expired and Juni’s temp spiked to almost 104°. #countrylife

All while I bawled my eyes out because I was so touched out and worried and nervous. #newmom

And that I’m shotgunning 100% cranberry juice like it’s my job.

And that I have at least 400 unanswered emails in my inbox.

And I can’t remember the last time I took a shower.

And that I’ve had more cups of coffee than I can remember this morning, but I still feel like I might keel over from exhaustion.

And I escaped to a coffee shop to get in a few hours worth of work this morning only to be riddled with guilt over leaving my sick baby (even though she is with her very capable, very loving, very nurturing Daddy).

My life is awesome, but my life is not perfect. You’ve been put on notice.

So what does all of this have to do with cauliflower curry? Well not a whole heck of a lot other than these pictures have been sitting in a folder on my computer for almost a week now waiting to be put into a post. Because life, man.

But hey, this curry is worth the wait. It’s a super yummy, crazy healthy, vegetarian dinner that comes together in about 20 minutes.

If you’ve never made curry before, it’s nothing to be afraid of. The best way to get the curry flavor you’re used to from your favorite South Asian restaurant is to use curry paste. Yes, they sell curry powder at most grocery stores, but the flavor of typical curry spices tends to fade very quickly after grinding—so powder form isn’t the best way to get robust flavor. Curry paste is the wet version of curry powder, and you can probably find it at your regular supermarket in the international foods aisle. Because it is wet, it keeps the flavor of the spices nice and robust, and having a bottle of curry paste in the fridge makes it a BREEZE to make a weeknight curry like this one.

For this recipe, you’re looking to pick up red curry paste—Mae Ploy brand is one that a lot of folks like, but I can’t find it at my supermarket, so I usually just use Thai Kitchen. If you’re a little more advanced, you can also make your own curry paste at home—here’s a great how-to from The Wanderlust Kitchen.

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

Description

This Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry is packed with exotic flavor, but only takes about 20 minutes to come together from start to finish thanks to using curry paste. You can find curry paste in the international food section of most supermarkets!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2–4 tablespoons red curry paste

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 large white onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1-14 ounce can coconut milk

1-15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1-15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 small head cauliflower, broken into small florets

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Salt and pepper, to taste

Rice or naan for serving

Instructions

Heat the coconut oil and curry paste in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is melted, and the curry paste is fragrant.

Add in the ginger, onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Cook until the veggies are tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add in the coconut milk, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, and cauliflower. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the cauliflower is tender, and then sauce is thick and bubbly, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve over top of cooked rice with a side of hot naan for serving.

66 Comments

I LOVE your blog and one of the reasons is your honesty. As a working mum of two, I totally feel this post – we are just coming out of the “winter of sick” at our house and I’m so done with it….and so, so tired of vomit. Bring on a healthful spring!

Love this. I had everything in the house except the can of chickpeas and cauliflower. One quick trip and problem solved. What a keeper although I cook much differently – i think the ingredients should be introduced to each other very slowly. Hence, after step 1 I added onion + peppers for 3 mins, then garlic for 3 mins, then chick peas for 3, then tomatoes for 3, then ginger for 3, then coconut milk for 3 mins, then cauliflower for 10 mins, then turned off burner for 5 mins (my burners retain a lot of heat,.. so this is slowly reducing the cooking temp), then set aside for 5 mins. Finally, ready to serve beside the rice, for 5 more mins. After that, mix and enjoy. It was amazing. Everything had blended together so nicely.

Omg, I am so jealous! Our nearest Thai place is an hour away. Last year I spied a sign that said “A Touch of Thai” in town and was so excited … until I found out it was a new massage place. Long story short, if you want exotic flavors ’round these parts, you gotta make it yourself. 🙂

Yup, real life! Every family goes through moments like that. In 10 years raising kids I learnt that shit hits the fence periodically. It is always something. Last weekend I had a 9 year old on crutches and 5 year old with 103. I just take it day by day and go to sleep when I can’t take it no more. Next morning things are always a tiny bit better. Nah, no one’s life is perfect. I learnt so many times people post on Facebook happily married pics etc. and boom, divorced 3 months later. Happened twice last year. I was like WHAT?! Hang in there.

You life/blog is raw, honest and beautiful. And life is tough. Regardless of if you have kids or not. I don’t have kids and just taking care of myself overwhelms me. You are doing an amazing job.

Anyway about the curry. I am so happy you love curry and I am so happy you posted this recipe. Lovely pictures. You don’t know how many times when other non indian people come up to me and ask me if I am indian (I am) and they proceed to tell me how they don’t like curry. Usually I just smile and nod. But inside I am going; WHO DOESN’T LIKE CURRRY??!?!!?!?!?

I love curry! And my wife does too. I made this tonight (first time…in fact first time in months I’ve made anything Indian) and my wife told me it was the best meal we’ve had in a long time. Thanks! BTw, my step-mom is from India, and my pastor (and good friend) is from India, but grew up in Malasia. There are probably 20 good Indian/Thai/Asian restaurants within 5 miles of our home. So I get great Indian and Thai food a lot. I live in a large mid-west city and we have a huge asian/east-indian population, so there are great ethnic markets everywhere. And with all the options, it’s still better to make it at home most of the time… This recipe is definitely a keeper.

I’ve been making this curry since you had it on Live Better America, and I’m always excited when we get cauliflower in our CSA because I know we’re going to have this curry! It’s a weeknight staple in our house for sure.

You have no idea how happy it makes my heart that someone recognized this recipe from LBA! I was so crushed when that site went down and all the goodness went down with it. This version is a slight (better!) tweak from the LBA version! 🙂

I used to subscribe to you via feedly, but stopped when you stopped posting the full post on feedly. I understand why, but I personally just want to read everything in feedly rather than having to click and go to webpage. I do the majority of blog reading on my phone and just find it annoying. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog again as it focuses less on your baby/mom life and more on the garden and what not and for awhile was fine with clicking to view it on your website. Except now the mobile version is unbelievably cluttered with ads as I try scrolling through, making it difficult to see what is the content/photos you posted and what is an annoying ad. I understand that this is your source of income and that adds=$, but your posts are now ugly and incredibly jumbled with ads and difficult to read.

I’m really sorry you are struggling to consume content—that’s never fun! You’ll be happy to hear that I’m currently working on a redesign (launching this summer), and comments like this will really help me shape the new look at feel of BTHR. So thanks for your feedback!

Like you said, my blog is my career and my family’s sole source of income, so it’s imperative for me to make a living wage based on the full-time hours I put into crafting the (what I hope you think is) high-quality content that I publish for free for my readers. It’s a constant struggle to balance making a site user-friendly while still making it profitable, so thanks for bearing with me while I figure out that balance.

This recipe sounds delicious! I’m trying hard to make one meatless meal a week(much to my husbands chagrin). This recipe sounds so good that even my hubby won’t miss the meat, maybe. I’ve never cooked with coconut oil before or coconut milk. So I have a question. Does coconut oil and coconut milk make the dish sweet at all? Also, can you recommend a good brand of coconut oil? Thanks.

I just found your blog site by accident and love how you write. I raised two kids and this blog brought back a typical day, week, etc. with a wistful smile. Thank you for your candor and enjoy the ride. BTW making this curry tonight. ?

I’ve followed your blog for awhile and have a few fave recipes I use over and over (your enchilada sauce, for one!). I made this last night and it was a hit!! My husband didn’t even mind that it was “meatless!” Will add this one to our “favourites!”. Thanks for sharing!

Hi! Really, really excited to try this recipe, but am really considering just using dry curry. I have a really great batch of it right now that holds its flavor very true, so I think it would be a good candidate for trying it. The thing is, though, I’m not sure how much curry powder would be equivalent to the amount of curry paste you’ve recommended? I’m guessing I would need more powder to equal the power of the paste.

Has anyone tried this with curry powder, and if so, how much did you use?

I would be cautious. A good curry powder can pack more punch than a curry paste. I would under add at first, then taste test after the coconut milk has been added. Adjust your flavours before adding the cauliflower. Just a suggestion – my experience is not broad.

This sounds amazingly delicious!!! I only have a VH red curry (which I think is a sauce?) in my pantry for some reason, but I am dying to make this! Do you think I can sub this even though it has more ingredients and isn’t a paste?

Delicious recipe. I added a bit of cumin and coriander. I think the coriander picked up sweetness in cauliflower. Also needed to add a second can of coconut milk; thinking I had a rather large head of cauliflower.

Unfortunately, curry paste and curry powder are two totally different animals. I wouldn’t suggest swapping them out. You can get curry paste online! I sometimes order it from Amazon: http://amzn.to/2jASxWN

I made this today because I had most on hand and oh boy I’m so glad I did! It was fast and full of so much flavor. My husband does not care for curry so I plan on eating this thru the week for lunch! Thank you!

I’m not seeing any dates on this, but I just wanted to tell you that as a SAHM who tried (and failed) to have a home baking business with two kids, you are rocking it! You’re also rocking this recipe, because it’s amazing!! XOXO

Found this recipe and wanted to leave a comment saying thank you! I made this for my family last night and it was a hit. The red curry paste I used was hecka spicy but I wanted more with every bite! Planning to add some shredded chicken, zucchini, and fresh tomatoes to it the next go around. A little bit of sugar also helps to bring out the flavors more and I simmered mine longer to soften up the cauliflower more. <3 mushed cauliflower. Thank you again for this quick and easy recipe!

Made this last night after finding it on Pinterest! The store was out of my go-to curry paste, and the one I bought was too mild, so I had to throw in extra tumeric, garam masala, red pepper flakes, cumin, and smoked paprika until it tasted “right” to me, but otherwise, I followed the recipe–my husband kept going back for more and our whole family loved it! 🙂 Thank you!

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Hello, Friends!

My name is Cassie, and I want to help you eat better. I believe eating whole foods can change your life (it did mine), and I believe you can do it without losing your mind, going broke, or eating like a bird.

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